Heel-seat-fitting machine



Dec. Z, 1930*.- w; R. BARCLAY ET AL .HEEL SEAT FITTING MAWINE Filed Feb. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l HIllIIIlI W. R. BARCLAY ET AL HEEL SEAT FITTING MACHINE Dec. 2, 1930.

Filed Feb. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheri?I 2 Patented nec.V 2, 1,930

UNITED STATES PATENTy OFFICE WILLIAM RODERIGI:` EAROLAY AND EREn RIcKs, OF LEIoEsTER, ENGLAND, AssIGNoRs To UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OE PATERsON, NEW JERSEY, A COR- PORAIION or NEW JERSEY IIEEL-sEAT-EITTING MACHINE Application ined February 27, 192s, serial No.

This invention relates to heel-seat fitting machines and is illustrated herein as embodied in a machine for shaping o-r blending the heel-seat of a sole for the recept-ion of a 6 wooden Louis heel. For this purpose, 1t Is desired to narrow and reduce the heel-seat portion of the sole to fit within the cup of the attaching surface of the heel and to form at each side of the reduced portion a tapering ,lo tab which, in the finished shoe, is curved downwardly againstthe breast surface of the heel and secured thereto at its breast corners. These tabs are completely covered and concealed by a flap or leaf split from the grain side of the sole which is commonly used to cover the breast offa Louis heel. It is important to shape such tabs accurately and to bevel them smoothly, so that their surfaces will merge or blend into the breast curvature of the heel, giving smoothand pleasing lines to the finish of its surface. f

- In one of its aspects, the present invention comprises an improved machine for forming such tapered tabs in an accurate, speedy and uniform fashion. To this Vend, an important feature ,ofthe invention consists in means for positioning a sole with a narrowed heal-seat portion, in combination with tab forming cut- Y `ters, the twobeing relatively movable to cut "through the margin of, thesole, making oblique cuts directed longitudinally in a heelward direction. Y Y vThe machine herein shown is adapted to operate upon a" sole vwhich has been partially prepared to the extent of having'it-s heel-seat portion narrowed by outlining a horseshoeshaped trimming therein. y The machine is so organized that in forming thetapered tabs this trimming may` be completely severed from the sole and removed, ,or if desired, it may be nearlyV severed but still retained in f place by connections at its two forward ends with the body of the-sole. In some cases, the latter procedure is'preferable', particularly where it is'desired to extend the sole level- 'ing Aoperation to include theheel-seat of the sole, for in such vcases `a,more,thorough and eflicient leveling operation' is secured by vallowing the trimming to remain in place until after the levelingoperation has been com- 257,421, and in Great Britain March 28, 1927.

pleted. Accordingly, other features of the invention residein novel means for relatively locating a soleand cutters so that the desired different results may be secured according to the different requirements of the work in hand.

It has been found that particularly satisfactory results are secured by employing separate tab cutting knives, these cooperating witha sole supporting member having matrix cavities for imparting the required tapered shape to the tabs. In this connection, we have .found it advantageous to Hare the tapered thin end of the tabs and the attainment of this result is facilitated, in the illustrated machine, by arranging the knives for Inovement rearwardly of the sole in lconvergent paths, so that they emerge fromthe sole at points nearer the center thereof than at which they enter.

,These and other features of the invention Vwill beibest understood and app-reciated from the following description'of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for-purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which *y i Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation, partly in section; Y

Fig. 8 is a viewV in perspective, on an enlarged scale, of that portion of the machine which includes the die plate, the tab cutters and their associated parts; Y

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating thle path of the cutters with' relation to a so e;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views in perspective of a sole, illustrating the operation of the machine. v i Before proceeding to a description of the machine, it will be convenient to refer to the sole illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. The first step in preparingthe heel seat of the sole 100 for the reception of a Louis heel consists in splitting'alap or leaf '102 from the grain side thereof. y This flap extends for the full width of the heel-.seat and longitudinally to a point forward of the breast line. In the finished shoe,`it is adapted to be laid against .the breast surface of the heel and to form a smooth, continuous surface merging into the shank surface of the sole. Tie heel-seat end of the sole beneath the flap 102 is then narrowed or reduced to form a tongue or narrowed heel-seat portion 104 with side edges tapering away from the flesh side of the sole. This is done by cutting a horseshoe-shaped trimming 106 which, as shown in Figs. 5 and G, is not completely severed from the sole but remains attached adjacent to the root of the tongue 104. The formation of the flap 102 and tongue 104 may be effected by any commercial machine available for those purposes and the sole in the condition just described comes to the machine of our invention for further treatment.

he tapered tabs 108 are formed in the material of the sole at the root of the horseshoeshaped trimming 106 by cuts 107 entering the .Sole at its flesh surface in parallel and aligned relation and extending obliquely in a heel- Vward direction, emerging from the lower split surface of the sole, as shown m Fig. 5, 1n lines 'slightly converging toward the center of the tongue 104. As will be apparent, it is important that the tabs should be located accurately in alignment with each other wldthwlse of the sole and it is also desirable that they should taper inwardly from their outer edge and flare somewhat toward their thin edge, in order to lie more smoothly against and conform to the curve of the Louis heel breast. In Figs. 5 and 6, the tab forming cuts are shown as not completely severing the horseshoeshaped trimming 106 but leaving a small amount of material in each corner at the base of the tongue 104. lt will be apparent that by shifting the cuts 107 slightly toward the rear or prolonging the peripheral cut of the tongue 104, the trimming 106 could be completely severed and removed from the sole.

The illustrative machine comprises a base adapted to be fixed to a bench or column in such a position that the operator can operate the machine and conveniently see the work while operating thereon, the front of the machine being towards the right in the figures.

It will be assumed further that the sole, before it comes for operation to the present machine, has been split in any usual or convenient way to form the breast flap 102 and that Vit has been operated upon by such a machine as described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,757,219, granted May 6, 1930, upon application of Fred Ricks and A. E. Richards, to form the therein-described narrowed heelseat portion or tongue. The root of this tongue is located somewhat rearwardly of the junction of the breast flap and the body of the sole and the horseshoe-shaped trimming 106 remains in place, being attached at the sides of the base of the tongue by material the full thickness of the sole. The machine herein shown, according to the present inven- "die-plate.

Vbracket 11. the die-plate 51 and extending rearwardly tion, may be used to detach or merely partially to detach this trimming from the sole in a novel way.

The base 10 of the machine carries at its front a wide bracket 11 which is fixed to the base by two rearwardly projecting Shanks, one of which is indicated at 13. In the upper surface of the bracket 11 are formed two horizontal slideways, suitably spaced -apart and converging towards their rear ends, in each of which there is mounted a knife-slide 15. The upper surface of each knife-slide is provided with a boss 17, to which is pivoted one end of a link 19, the other end of which is pivoted at 21 to the under surface of a wing 23 extending upwardly and forwardly from an actuating slide 25 that is mounted for horizontal sliding movement in a guideway in the base 10. The slide 25 is connected to and operated by an an eccentric rod 27 mounted upon an eccentric 29 carried by a shaft 31, which is adapted to be driven through a one-revolution clutch of any convenient type. A clutch lever 33 is connected by a link 35 to an arm 37 fixed on a rockshaft 39, movement of which in one direction will cause clutching of the shaft and consequent simultaneous reciprocation of the vis a sole support comprising a horizontal die-plate 51, the upper surface of which is on a level with the under face of the knives 41 so that the latter in their reciprocation will just slide over the top surface of the The front edge of the die-plate 51 is spaced from the rear edge of the In the front upper surface of from the front edge thereof are two recesses or matrix cavities, indicated generally at 53. Each cavity is allocated to one leg of the horseshoe-shaped trimming that is to be severed or divided; its depth is reduced gradually from front to rear so as to form a long bevel and may run out on to the top surface of the die-plate by reason of this slope, orl the recess may terminate in an abrupt wall of small height which may be vertical or nearly so. The exact shape of this rear margin of the recess will depend on the character of the material of the sole and upon the exact result it is desired to obtain. It is believed that with properly tempered leather of good quality such an abrupt wall of about fifteen thousandths of an inch in height is of advantage in producing tabs of proper taper and of uniformi length.

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Mounted in a horizontal guideway in the lower `side of the die-plate 5.1 is a gaugeplate 61, which isadjustable forwardly and rearwardly by a rack and pinion operated by turning a hand-piece 63. The 'front margin of the gauge-plate is beveled to a thin edge.

In orderthat the die-plate 51 shall act as a shear-plate (as is desirable) for the knives, it is necessary that it should be very accurately adjusted vertically'and, to provide for such adjustment, the following mechanism' is suppliedj Under thefront part of the die-plate 51 there is rigidly fixedzto the base a stiff cross-bar 55 and into this cross-bar there arethreaded two adjusting screws, one of which is shown at 57, adapted to contact with the under side of the front part of-the die-plate. By adjusting these screws upwardly, the front ofthe die-plate may be forced upwardly sutliciently to make any slight adjustment necessary to cause it to act properly as a shear-plate fory the knives. The die-plate 51 and the gaugeplate` 61 are cut away at their center portions to permit scrap material to fall therethrough.`

The sole is Vclamped and the'legs of the horseshoe-shaped trimming are vheld down` against the die-plate 51 and forced into the matrix cavities by a pair ofrolls, one for each leg, one of'which is shown at 71. t The roll 71 is mounted upon a pivot pin that eX- tends horizontally across the front of the machine and that is carried bythe lower end of a rod 73 that passes through-a sleeve 75, threaded into aboss 76 on the wing 23; The sleeve is provided with a head 7 8 for conven'iently positioning-the sleeve in the boss 7 6 and a lock-nut 77 locks theY sleeve' 75 in adjusted position. A spring 79 forces the rod-73 downwardly-to a position determined by, an eccentric boss 81 on a rotatable pin 83, the boss iitting into a lrecess in the rod 73.

-It will be notedthat'the rolls 71 travel rearwardly with and just ahead of the knives 41.' lf the sole being operated upon is beveled along the shankmargins and if such bevels' extend to the heel end of the sole, the rolls may be canted orvshapedto press" down upon the beveled margins-and mayor may rnot also press upon thefunbevele'd portions immediately inwardly of such bevels; also if the lateral slope of the'bottomof the die cavity is such as to make it desirable, the'roll may be shaped in a similar sense. i

A shield 85 is attached tothe front of the base vto 'cause the breast Vflap when the sole is inserted in the machinereadily to locateV itself' downwards in ani out-of-the-way 4posi-A tion. j Y The `operation of the machine is asfollows: The sole is inserted' in'the machine with its grain side (the side bearing the tia-p) down and its heel end to the'rear.

The' w whole sole' is passed under Vthe lbracket 11 and the heel-seat end of the sole, comprising the-tongue and the horseshoe-shaped trimming, is passed upwardly through the space between the rear edge of the bracket 11 .and the front edges of the die-plate 51 and th-e gauge-plate 61, the breast flap passing down in front of the shield 85 and the sole being positioned longitudinally by contact of the forward edge of the gauge-plate 61 with the sole at the junction of the breast flap and the heel-seat portion with the body of the sole. The flesh side of the body of the sole is held close up to the under surface of the bracket 11. I

The sole having been positioned, the operator depresses the-clutch lever 32 and causes the knives to move rearwardly. In passing across the space 52 and over the die-plate 51, the knives cut through the legs of the horseshoe-shaped trimming at an angle which will depend upon the slope of the bottom surfaces of the dies er recesses, thus forming at each side of the sole a tab that is tapered by cutting action towards the thin end of the tab in a long taper longitudinally of the sole, so

that no further tapering is required to enable the heel to be properly attached to the shoe. `Whether or not the horseshoe-shaped trimming is completely severed will depend upon the width and position of the knives, the length of the trimming-forming cut relatively to the length of the breast flap, and the position ofthe gauge-plate relatively to the die-plate. Further, the shape of the tab will depend upon the paths of the knives and the shape o-f the cavities in the die-plate.`

' In the machine herein shown, the paths of the knives instead of being parallel converge towards the rear or heel end of the sole, and

the knives may be of such width and so positioned that the trimming will be left attached to the sole at the inner forwardl corners, the inner cutting cornersof the knives passing below the upper face of the heel-seat portion or tongue `of the sole where it is beveled and wherev these bevels terminate at the v heelbreast region.` The knives may, by intercepting the bevels of the tongue, cut through the horseshoe-shaped trimming over its entire width closeto where the said bevels terminate and without any need of bending the beveled tongue away from the trimming for effecting a-clean severance of the trimming. Theknives. may alternatively, as indicated, be set so that a small amount of uncut leather unites the trimming to the body ofthe sole at the tabs, and at the same time without damaging in any way the shape of the shoe.

In the particular case under consideration, the cavities in the die-plate at any trans. erse cross-section are deeper at their outer sides than at their inner sides, and each tab tapers not only from its thick root to its thin rear edge in a long even taper, but also tapers laterally, being thinnest along its inner edge. It will be understood that all these tapers of the tabs are formed by cutting into that face of the sole (i, e. the flesh face) opposite to that which provides the breast-covering flap and are formed by cutting action proceeding from the thicker to the thinner portions of the resultant tab. Further, the gauge-plate may be so adjusted that the knives will enter the sole somewhat forwardly of the root of the heel-seat portion or tongue, so that the longitudinal taper of the tabs commences on the body of the sole near the termination of the bevels of the tongue. rihe result is that the tab on a line across the sole through the said termination of the tongue bevels is already of less thickness than the full thickness of the tongue or of the horseshoe-shaped trimming.

It will be apparent that the machine hereinabove described is particularly well adapted for forming accurately and uniformly tapering tabs of any shape and size desired and that suitable provision is made for readily varying the operation of the machine to accomplish that end.

While the die plate has been described as provided with matrix cavities, it will be understood that it is within the scope of the invention to employ matrix surfaces of any shape required by the characteristics of the work in hand. It is believed that heretofore in heelseat fitting matrix-shaped tabs have not been formed simultaneously at separate points or areas in a sole. The organization of the elements necessary for carrying out such a procedure, accordingly, constitutes one of the broader aspects of the invention.

In some of the appended claims, for convenience of expression, the tab cutting means is defined as moving with respect to the sole support. It will, however, be understood that it is in various aspects of the invention of only secondary consequence which of the two elements actually moves, it being relative movement of the two that is essential.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

l. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination means for positioning a sole with a narrowed heel-seat portion, and knives constructed and arranged to straddle said narrowed heel-seat portion for cutting on each side of the narrowed sole portion a tab tapered longitudinally of the sole upon a long bevel.

2. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination means` for positioning and clamping a sole with a narrowed heel-seat portion, and tab forming cutters movable relatively thereto to cuti through the margin of the sole making cuts directed longitudinally in a heelward direction and having a component transversely toward the center of the sole.

3. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with spaced matrix cavities, and separate knives guided'for movement in paths adjacent to said cavities.

l. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with spaced matrix cavities, separate knives guided for movement in paths adjacent to said cavities, and means Vfor adjusting the support transversely to the path of the knives.

5. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with spaced matrix cavities, separate knives guided for movement in paths parallel to the surface of the support, and sole pressing means associated with each knife and acting to force portions of the sole into the matrix cavities in advance of the cutting operation.

6. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a supporting member over which the heel-seatend of a sole may be curved-and havinO spaced matrix cavities in its surface, and cut-ting means including two edges spaced to correspond to the cavities.

7. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a supporting member over which the heel-seat end of a sole may be curved, and spaced cutting knives located out-side said member and movable inwardly to sever those portions of the sole located between them and the supporting member.

8. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with matrix cavities, and separate knives guided in paths directed convergently toward said cavities.

9. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with matrix cavities, an actuating slide, separate knives guided in paths converging toward the said cavities, and link connections between the slide and each of said knives. 10. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support provided with matrix cavities in its upper surface, a knife support spaced from said sole support so that the heel-seat end of a sole may be curved over the sole support while the body ofthe sole extends beneath the knife support, and a knife movable in a path adjacent to each of the matrix cavities.

l1. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support having matrix cavities in its supportingsurface, and tab cutting knives located adjacent to opposite edges of a sole on the support and cooperating therewith, each knife being beveled at its forward end and being beveled `also at one sideedge.

Y 12. A heel-seat fitting' machine, having in combination a sole support, an actuating slide movable in a straight line path, a pair of knives connected to the slide and movable in paths convergent with reference to the path of the slide, and presser rolls carried by the slide, said rolls being constructed and arranged for movement in advance of the knives during the heel-seat fitting operation.

13. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole support having matrix cavities in its surface, a gauge fo-r positioning a sole longitudinally on the support relatively to said cavities, and associated tab cutting knives.

14. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a die plate with matrix cavities in its surface, a gaugev adjustably mounted below the die plate and adapted to engage a split sole to locate a. portion thereof longitudinally upon the die plate with respect to the matrix cavities, and tab cutting knives cooperating with the die plate.

15. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a support for a so-le having a narrowed heel-seat portion, and a. pair of tab cutting knives movable in converging paths separated by substantially the width of the heel-seat portion of the sole to operate upon the sole located upon the support.

16. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a support for a sole having a tongue formed at its heel-seat end, and a pair of tab cutting knives mounted for movement in heelward convergent paths separated from each other adjacent to the base of the tongue by substantially the width of the tongue.

17. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a support and gauge for locating arsole having a leaf split from one surface with the split leaf deflected from the sole, and tab cutting knives movable to enter the sole at its other surface, passing through `the sole in heelward direction to form aligned tabs and emerging through the split surface of the sole opposite the leaf.

18. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a die plate, a bracket, a pair of tab cutting knives mounted in the bracket for cooperative shearing movement with respect to the die plate, an actuating slide having operative connections with the knives, and presser rolls carried by the actuating slide, one arranged to travel in advance of each knife.

19. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a die plate, a pair of cutters movable longitudinally in cooperative relation with the die plate, and an actuating slide for the cutters, a pair of wings projecting from the slide toward said cutters, and a presser roll yieldingly mounted in each wing and ar- .'of the rolls toward the support.

jra'ngedto act inv advance of each of said cutters.

20. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combinationasupport for a sole having a narrowedheel-'seat portion, a pair of tab cutting knivesmovable in converging paths separated bysubstantially the width of the heelseatportion of the sole to operate upon the sole located upon the support, a presser roll arranged'to travel with each of the knives and act in advance thereof, means for normal- 'ly urging the rolls toward the support, and means for positively limiting the movement 21. A machine for operating on soles, havling clamping elements for Vmatrix-shaping ltwoV separate areas .of a sole, and cutting means' traversing the entire thickness of the Vsole for simultaneously producing two separate matrix-shaped tabs. -T- v 22'. 'A machine for operating on soles, having clamping elements for matrix-shaping two separate areas of a sole obliquely and longitudinally of the sole, and cutting means for simultaneously producingtwo corresponding tapering matrix-shaped tabs. i

23. A heel-seat fitting machine, having in combination a sole engaging member provided with spaced, sole-deforming, matrix cavities, cutting means, and mechanism for causing relative movements of the sole engaging member'and the cutting means to cause the lattertocut `through the portion ofthe sole deformed by the matrix cavities, thereby `to form on 'the sole a. `pair of -tabs tapering to a feather edge at both their inner and their rearward edges. i

V2t.lA"machinefor operating upon soles, havingin combination a pair of knives, and means forv causing relative movement of the knives and a sole presented thereto to cause the knives to form upon the sole a pair of tabs tapering substantially to a feather edge at their extremitiesand at their inner edges.`

25. A inachine'for operating upon soles, having in combination a pair of knives, and mechanism for causing relative movement of the `knives and a sole presented thereto to cause ,the knives to form substantially at the heel breast line of the sole a pair of tabs having their bases substantially at the heel breast line and tapering substantially from Vtheir bases and their outer edges to a feather `at their inner edges and their rearward ends.

26. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a support for a sole having'a narrowed heel-seat portion and a horseshoeshaped portion of surplus material attached theretoin the vicinity of the breast line of the sole at opposite sides of said narrowed heelseat portion, and a pair of cutting knives movable in paths separated by substantially the width -of the narrowed heel-seat portion of the sole and constructed `and arranged for cooperating with the support partially to l'lO lil

sever they horseshoe-shaped portion from the sole so that the horseshoe-shaped portion 'later may easily be removed from the sole but will remain connected thereto in order that it Will retain substantially its original position in the sole during subsequent operations upon the sole and before it is severed from the sole.

27. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a support having matrix cavities in its surface formed and arranged to engage a sole having a narrowed heel-seat portion and a horseshoe-shaped portion of surplus material attached thereto in the vicinity of the breast line of the sole at opposite sides of said narrowed heel-seat portion, and a pair of cutting knives movable in paths separated by substantially the Width of the heelseat portion of the sole and constructed and arranged for cooperating with said matrix cavities of the support partially to 4sever the horseshoe-shaped portion from the sole so that the horseshoe-shaped portion later may easily be removed from the sole but will remain connected to the sole in order that it will retain substantially its original position in the sole during subsequent operations upon the sole and before it is severed from the sole.

28. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a support for a sole having a narrowed heel-seat portion and a horseshoe shaped portion of surplus material attached thereto in the vicinity of the breast line of the sole at opposite sides of said narrowed heel-seat portion, and a pair of knives movable in converging paths separated by substantially the width of the heel-seat portion of the sole and constructed and arranged for cooperating with the support partially to sever the horseshoe-shaped portion from the sole so that the horseshoesshaped portion later may easily be removed from the sole but will remain connected to the sole in order that it Will retain substantially its original position in the sole during subsequent operations upon the sole and before it is severed from the sole.

29. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a support having matrix cavities in its surface formed and arranged to engage a sole having a narrowed heel-seat portion and a horseshoe-shaped portion of surplus material attached thereto in the vicinity of the breast line of the sole at opposite sides of said narrowed heel-seat portion, and a pair of cutting knives movable in converging paths separated by substantially the Width of the heel-seat port-ion of the sole and constructed and arranged Y for cooperating with said ymatrix cavities of the support partially to sever the horseshoe-shaped portion from the sole so that the horseshoeshaped portionllater may easily be removed from the sole but will remain connected to the sole in order that it willretain substantially its original position inthe sole during subsequent operations upon the sole and before it is severed Jfrom the sole.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

WILLIAM RODERICK BARGLAY. FRED HICKS. 

